Tom Paris
Thomas Eugene Paris was a Human Starfleet officer who returned home from the Delta Quadrant in 2378 after serving for seven years as flight controller of the Federation starship . Family and Academy years at the Academy]] As the son of a senior Starfleet official, Admiral Owen Paris, Tom Paris often felt inadequate due to the pressure his father put on him to excel. He had a troubled relationship with his father who remained tough and remote, telling him for instance that crying was a sign of weakness. ( ) As Tom had a love of the ocean and sailing, he wanted to join the Federation Naval Patrol. On the other hand, his father had other plans for him, and Tom abandoned this idea. ( ) At the Academy, in the 2360s, Admiral Paris was the instructor of his course on Survival Strategies. Admiral Paris did not play favorites with his son as his student, giving Tom Paris a "B-minus", overall, in the course. ( ) During his first year at the Academy, Paris fell in love for the first time with Susie Crabtree. She broke off the relationship and he almost failed Stellar Cartography, broke out in hives and couldn't get out of bed for a week as a result. He spent much of that year in a daze as a result and even years later would think of her from time to time. He chose Marseilles, France as the site of his physical training second semester. He frequented a small bar known as Sandrine's, where he met a girl by the name of Ricky. He did hone his natural aptitude for piloting skills on craft large and small and proved adept at holo-engineering. ( ) While he considered most of his early family to be rather ordinary people, referring to them as "salt of the earth" and some "farmers" and "colonists", he held great respect for one of his ancestors, a pilot who flew the first orbital glider over the lower Martian plateau. ( ) Tom Paris loved his bedroom back home, and often locked himself away in there to cry, play games and listen to music. Also noted, he lost his virginity there at the age of seventeen while his parents were away for the weekend. ( ) Starfleet career Upon graduation Paris was assigned to the . Later, he was dismissed from Starfleet when he tried to cover up a piloting error on his behalf which led to the deaths of three fellow officers at Caldik Prime; the fact that he later told the truth didn't make up for it. He once joked that "The ghosts of those three dead officers came to me in the middle of the night and taught me the true meaning of Christmas" when asked why he told the truth. ( ) Incarceration After being expelled from Starfleet, he joined the Maquis, but was captured on his first mission. Paris was serving time in a Federation Penal Settlement in Aukland New Zealand when he received a visit from Captain Kathryn Janeway. She gave him the opportunity to redeem himself by participating on a mission to track down the Maquis who were hiding in the Badlands. After a short hesitation, he decided to take this opportunity. USS Voyager The first year Paris received a cool reception on Voyager due to the accident at Caldik Prime, especially from first officer Cavit as well as the ship's doctor. He struck a friendship with Harry Kim, who had just graduated from the academy. When Voyager was stranded in the Delta Quadrant by the Caretaker's Array, he helped rescue B'Elanna Torres and Kim who had been sent to an underground Ocampa city. He saved Chakotay's life during the rescue. He was promoted to flight controller, with his Starfleet rank of Lieutenant junior grade reinstated. He was assigned the additional job as a medic for The Doctor when an assessment for medical replacements was brought forth. After his training program began, the Doctor recognized medical aptitude in Kes, and personally recruited her. While his training ostensibly continued under Janeway's orders, the Doctor expressed a clear preference for Kes' services. She therefore came to be the Doctor's primary assistant. Paris once again went into heavy rotation on the sickbay duty roster after her departure. ( ) While on a mission to Banea to repair a damaged collimator, Paris was convicted of murdering Tolen Ren. The images of Ren's last moments up to his death were implanted in Paris' brain, causing neural damage. Tuvok, with the assistance of others, was able to discover proof that Paris was innocent. Later, at his hearing on Banea, Tuvok was able to show that the images had been falsely implanted in Paris' mind, and included information from Ren's weapons research. Also, Tuvok was able to prove that Tom was being used as a messenger for the Numiri. After the false memory had been removed, Paris was allowed to leave, but it is unclear whether he was formally cleared of the crimes. ( ) Paris created a holoprogram of Sandrine's which became a favorite spot of the crew to relax. The program included Sandrine, Ricky, a pool hustler, and a gigolo. ( ) Paris, along with Torres, was captured by the Vidiians. Torres was subjected to an experiment that parted her Human and Klingon halves, and Paris, after working at hard labor, was going to have his organs harvested. Chakotay and a rescue squad was able to save them. ( ) 2372 In 2372, Paris came into conflict with Neelix over Kes, whom Paris had become attracted to while serving as her flight instructor. This conflict became resolved, however, when both Paris and Neelix were assigned together on an away mission, and had to depend on each other for survival. They also cooperated in saving the life of a Repto-Humanoid baby. They eventually become close friends. ( ) Paris was the first Starfleet officer to reach warp 10. The experience caused him to begin to mutate. He then kidnapped Janeway and took her on a warp ten journey, which caused her to mutate. When they were found they had evolved into amphibians. They produced three offspring which the crew left on the planet. Back on Voyager, the doctor was able to de-evolve them back to their Human forms. ( ) Kazon Paris was instrumental in the battle with the Kazon. He pretended to leave Voyager in order to expose a traitor among the crew, narrowly making it back to Voyager before his stolen shuttle was destroyed. He also led a fleet of Talaxian ships which recaptured Voyager after it was captured by Culluh; during the attack, he had left Voyager in a shuttle to go back for help. Voyager was sabotaged by The Doctor and Lon Suder, a former crewman who was being rehabilitated by Tuvok after killing a fellow crewman, allowing Paris to retake the ship. Thanks to Suder's efforts, the backup phaser couplings were disabled, causing them to explode and damage Voyager when the Kazon tried to activate them (Paris had already taken out the primary couplings). After retaking the ship, Paris rescued the rest of the crew from a primitive planet the Kazon stranded them on. ( ) 2373 In 2373 he was arrested along with Kim and sentenced for a terrorist act he did not commit. Even though Janeway was able to prove their innocence, the authorities refused to release them. The two men suffered horribly in the prison. Paris saved Kim's life, and later Kim nursed Paris back to health after he was stabbed by another inmate. The stress of prison did take its toll on them. Paris, suffering from delirium, dismantled a tool Kim was going to use for an escape attempt, and Kim, enraged, almost killed him. Voyager was able to rescue them. ( ) He was attacked by an alien race known as the Swarm. However, Torres was able to get him back to the ship for medical care ( ). He then traveled back in time, along with the rest of the crew, to stop Henry Starling from stealing a time ship. He was part of the away team to 20th century Earth, spending a great deal of time with Rain Robinson, a young astronomer in Starling's employ who detected Voyager's arrival. The two developed feelings for each other, but were forced to part ways when Voyager had destroyed the timeship and returned to the 24th century. ( ) That year the feelings between Torres and Paris began to make themselves evident. During the time Torres was affected with pon farr, she displayed feelings of passion toward Paris. ( ) He was part of an away team that discovered that the planet Takar was being ruled by two Ferengi who had arrived on the planet after being trapped in the Delta Quadrant by an unstable wormhole. ( ) He, along with Tuvok, was also almost killed during a holoprogram that was sabotaged by Seska. Its safety protocols were off-line and the program about a Maquis take-over of the ship was in progress, with a holographic version of Seska that had been programmed to target anyone who opened the program's narrative parameters file. Despite the odds, Tuvok and Paris were able to stay one step ahead of the hologram until Janeway could write an ending to the novel, culminating in the Seska hologram being 'killed' when a phaser rifle malfunctioned. ( ) First contacts The year 2374 would bring many new encounters with different alien species, some for the better, and some for the worse. During a mission to retrieve the warp core of Voyager which had to be jettisoned due to a failed experiment, Torres and Paris were attacked by the Caatati. As they floated in space in their EV suits, they professed their love for each other. ( ) During the year of confrontation with the Krenim timeship, Paris was captured and taken aboard the ship with Chakotay. He tried to sabotage the ship in order to restore the timeline, objecting to Chakotay's plan to convince the Krenim to stop on the grounds that the Krenim commander had gone mad. He secretly transmitted the location of the Krenmin ship to Janeway who was able to crash Voyager into the ship, destabilizing its temporal core and causing it to erase itself, restoring the timeline. ( ) He played the role of an army officer in the Hirogen holodeck programs that used the crew as prey. He and Torres' character had a romantic relationship before the war.( ) Later that year, Paris' body was stolen by an alien named Steth, who switched bodies with him. He was able to regain his body with the help of another humanoid who also had its body stolen by Steth, although during the process the alien also stole Janeway's body. ( ) While exploring a toxic planet Paris and Kim would come in contact with silver blood, a sentient substance that duplicated them in order to experience consciousness. The duplicates spent some time on Voyager before the originals were found, believing themselves to be the real Paris and Kim. A year later the silver blood Paris would marry the duplicate Torres. But they both, along with the rest of the duplicate crew would die from cellular decay. ( ) Conflict with the Borg Paris took part in the battle between the Borg and Species 8472 after Janeway allied with the Borg. Voyager provided the Borg with weapons to combat their enemy and the Borg provided safe passage through their space. ( ) During the incident with the Borg, when Voyager tried to stop them from exploding a bioweapon in Earth's atmosphere, Paris, piloting the Delta Flyer, rescued Janeway and Seven (who was being forced to help build the weapon) after the weapon was disabled, and subsequently stayed ahead of the Borg Queen's ship long enough for them to reach Voyager. ( ) Paris was captured by a Borg cube that was piloted by Borg children who had been separated from the hive when the older Borg drones died after an accident in space. Seven persuaded the children to release Paris and the other members of the away team. ( ) 2375 In 2375 Paris built the Delta Flyer, a shuttle of his own design intended for use in the increasingly-hostile Delta Quadrant. Captain Janeway authorized construction in order to retrieve a multispatial probe that was lost in the atmosphere of a gas giant and in danger of being stolen by the Malon. The Malon began work on a shuttlecraft also, and finished theirs before the Flyer was complete. When the Malon sent out their shuttle, the Flyer was deployed early, despite a flaw with the vessel's structural integrity. The Flyer was successful in retrieving the probe, but a hull breach started to occur. B'Elanna Torres designed a makeshift device that deployed a temporary forcefield, successfully containing the breach. ( ) Paris was demoted to ensign in 2375 for disobeying orders when he had attempted to interfere in a society that was threatened with the loss of the containment of their ocean. ( ) By the end of 2376 he had earned back his rank of lieutenant junior grade. ( ) He became trapped on a planet with Tuvok and The Doctor, and was taught survival techniques by Noss. ( ) 2376 2376 would bring many adventures and dangers. He salvaged an alien ship that had a neural interface that almost led to his death. He fought against the Vaadwaur. ( ), After returning from an away mission, he began to have dreams that he had participated in a massacre. These were memories produced by a synaptic transmitter on a planet they had landed on. It was put there to keep alive the memorials of the people who were killed. ( ) He accompanied Chakotay and Seven of Nine in the investigation of a subspace energy cloud. They discovered the Ares IV, an old Earth ship sent to Mars in the early 21st century, which had been trapped inside the cloud in 2032. They, too, were trapped, but managed to escape by using parts from the old ship to fix the Delta Flyer. ( ) The return During the last year of Voyager's journey, he helped the Borg drones of Unimatrix Zero escape from the hive. ( ) He married Torres during the first running of the Antarian Trans-stellar Rally, proposing as the shuttle came close to suffering a warp core breach. Its destruction was averted after the warp core was ejected into a class J nebula, containing the antimatter explosion. The two of them used the Delta Flyer for their honeymoon. ( ) One of Paris' more important personal struggles here was when he helped Torres accept her Klingon heritage and allowed their baby to be born with Klingon characteristics. Ever since her father left following an argument, Torres had been convinced that she was responsible for him leaving due to her and her mother being too Klingon for him to cope with, and she feared it would happen again. Paris convinced Torres that he would love all their children no matter how Klingon they were, and she agreed to leave her daughter as she was. He also fought for her honor when a group of Klingons believed she was carrying the savior of the Klingon race. ( ) Paris and most of the crew of Voyager were kidnapped by a race called the Quarren. They were brainwashed and drugged so they could be used in the labor force of the planet. He was looking for a job after being fired from the local power plant by a new efficiency monitor, named Annika Hansen. Paris got himself hired in a local tavern to wait and bus tables. He was rescued through the efforts of Chakotay. ( ) While piloting the Delta Flyer through Ledosian space, Paris was charged with reckless piloting, and was required to attend a piloting class. He failed the course when he rescued an away team from the planet and disabled a deflector shield. ( ) While on the ship's first Starfleet-assigned mission for seven years, he was captured by a race that had been contaminated by an old Earth probe. He was rescued – and, indeed, helped make peace with the population by having an infant suffering from radiation sickness receive treatment – but his crewmate, Joe Carey, was killed. ( ) During the last battle with the Borg, which enabled Voyager to return home, his first child was born, a daughter named Miral. Although he was unable to be present at the birth, as he was needed at Voyager's helm, he was contacted by The Doctor as soon as the birth was over and Voyager was back at Earth, the Doctor informing him that "There's someone down here who would like to say 'Hello'." ( ) Alternate realities and timelines *In an alternate timeline, for his first official away mission, Tom Paris joined Kathryn Janeway, B'Elanna Torres, and Tuvok on a planet devastated by the detonation of a polaric ion device. Due to a subspace fracture, he and Janeway were pulled back in time prior to the detonation. They were taken hostage by protesters demonstrating against the use of polaric energy. When being escorted to a polaric power plant, along with a boy named Latika, Janeway told a guard that she and Paris were hostages. One of the protesters went to shoot at Latika, but Paris took the bullet. ( ) *When Kim mistakenly entered an alternate reality in which he was never assigned to Voyager, Paris helped him return to his own reality. In that timeline, when he arrived at Deep Space 9, Paris got into a bar fight with Quark and was sent to the brig by Constable Odo, forcing Voyager to leave without him. Having served his sentence at a penal colony, Paris moved to Marseilles where he spent his time at Sandrine's drinking and hustling pool. He did not know Kim, but nevertheless helped him return to his own timeline at the cost of his life, as the runabout they were on was destroyed while they attempted to duplicate the accident that sent Kim to this reality. ( ) *In another alternate timeline made null by Kes traveling back through time, Paris married and had a child with Kes, named Linnis Paris, following Torres' death during The Year of Hell conflict. Linnis went on to marry Harry Kim, and the two of them had a son called Andrew. This was during the timeline that Kes was experiencing time jumps that were taking her back in time, caused by her contamination from the Krenim's temporal weapons, and was subsequently erased when the Doctor cured Kes of the contamination. Any feelings Kes had for Paris as a result of the experience were never explored before her departure. ( ) *In the alternate timeline in which Voyager crashed on an L-Class world in the Alpha Quadrant after an accident with an experimental quantum slipstream drive, Paris died upon impact, along with the rest of the crew, save Harry Kim and Chakotay, who were aboard the Delta Flyer, and the Doctor, who was merely deactivated. ( ) *In an alternate timeline in which it took Voyager sixteen more years to return to Earth, Paris retired from Starfleet and became a holonovelist. He and The Doctor retained their typical bantering relationship, with Paris teasing The Doctor about the fact that it took him thirty-three years to choose the name 'Joe'. ( ) Hobbies Tom Paris had a variety of interests, but many of them focused on 20th century North American culture, specifically the latter half of the century – old sci-fi movies, pulp sci-fi, "muscle cars" and automobiles in general, and similar pursuits. He created his own holoprogram called Grease Monkey in which he could tinker with old cars. ( ) He liked 20th century snacks (in that period better known as "junk food") such as hot dogs, popcorn, and pizza. He was interested in 19th century sailing vessels and seemed to have some interest in Irish culture, as was evidenced by his creation of the Fair Haven holoprogram. He also possessed considerable knowledge of the early Mars projects from the first missions of the 1970s to the first colony. ( ) He was fond of playing practical jokes, particularly on Tuvok. For example, he reprogrammed a holographic Vulcan monastery that Tuvok used in a variety of ways (including dressing one of the central figures in sleepwear, and changing the chants to Ferengi chants about profit). In the holographic village of Fair Haven, when the character Maggie was about to kiss Harry, Tom turned Maggie into a Holstein-Friesian cow. He also reprogrammed all the systems Tuvok interacted with to say "live long and prosper" whenever he used them. ]] Holoprograms One of his holo-programs, Captain Proton, was mistakenly taken for real by aliens who thought that they were going to be attacked by Dr. Chaotica. Janeway assumed the character of Queen Arachnia and defeated Chaotica. ( ) Later while using the program Fair Haven, Paris would play a joke on Kim and turn his holodate, Maggie, into a cow. When some of the villagers saw this, they believed that Kim and Paris were evil spirits. They captured them and tried to drive the spirits from them. Due to damage to the holodeck the characters had become self-aware. After Janeway explained the situation to Michael Sullivan, he calmed down the villagers and the pair was released. ( ) Personal relationships B'Elanna Torres B'Elanna Torres was Voyager 's Chief Engineer and eventually would become Tom's wife. Half Human and half Klingon, B'Elanna had a fiery disposition that was tempered by a vulnerable side that was very endearing. Their first real flirtation occurred in 2373 during an away mission on a shuttlecraft when Tom asked B’Elanna if she had a hot date back on Voyager. When she denied any interest in the attentions of Crewman Freddy Bristow, Tom suggested that she might join him on the holodeck sometime. B’Elanna, aware of Tom’s reputation as a ladies’ man, turned him down flat. ( ) -inspired kiss]] The relationship heated up later that year when Ensign Vorik, struck with the pon farr, asked Torres to become his mate. She also turned him down, but in his passion, Vorik took her face in his hands and unintentionally initiated a telepathic mating bond. Driven to distraction with this blood fever, Torres became trapped with Paris in a cave on a planet. Although she begged for him to mate with her, Paris refused because he realized that she was not in control of her actions. Both of them admitted that they had been nurturing feelings for each other, but Paris was adamant that he would not misuse the situation. When Tuvok finally rescued them, he told Tom that unless he mated with Torres, she would die from the pon farr-like symptoms. He was ready to accede to B’Elanna’s wishes when Vorik interrupted them to claim her for himself. Ultimately, Torres and Vorik fought to end the pon farr. Later, in a turbolift, Torres told Paris that they should forget the whole thing, but he insisted that even though he had seen her "big scary Klingon side", he was still interested. Her last words as she departed the turbolift were "Careful what you wish for, Lieutenant." ( ) Although occurring in an alternate future, Paris and Torres again appeared as a couple when Kes began to live her life backwards, although Torres died in an attack shortly after Kes' appearance in that timeline. However, when she finally stabilized in 2373, it was obvious that Paris and Torres were still just friends. ( ) Paris and Torres grew to become close friends and Paris even began to work Klingon martial arts programs with her on the holodeck, even though Torres was not impressed by the scenarios. When the entire crew lost Voyager to a race known as the Nyrians, they became stranded on a spacecraft with prison cells simulated to be environments suitable for the prisoners. In an attempt to escape, Paris and Torres became trapped in an "ice age" scenario and were forced to embrace themselves to stimulate warmth. ( ) It became obvious that they were growing closer when they shared an illicit holoprogram that Torres found depicting a Maquis mutiny on Voyager. ( ) Later, Paris made up excuses to end his duty shift sooner to be with Torres. He even used the transporter to get to her without being seen by other crew members. Eventually, they were caught by Tuvok when they met on the upper deck of main engineering. After that, Paris and Torres were worried that their relationship would be known among the entire Voyager crew. They even tried to prevent this by not entering the briefing room at the same time. Although at this time their relationship was passionate they were not sure if their relationship would have a future. Tuvok never mentioned that he caught both of them to Captain Kathryn Janeway but she found out and reprimanded them. It seemed she had heard about their relationship via other ways. When the involvement of the Srivani became clear it was thought that their feelings for each other might have been caused by their experiments but they were not sure about this. Even if this was the case Paris and Torres were willing to find out on their own. ( ) Tom's relationship with B'Elanna would eventually lead to a marriage ( ) and in 2378 their daughter Miral Paris was born. ( ) Harry Kim During their time on Voyager, Harry Kim became Paris' best friend. Paris first met Kim, a then-naive ensign straight out of Starfleet Academy, on board Deep Space 9, where a Ferengi bartender named Quark wanted to sell Kim some Lobi crystals. When he overheard their conversation, Paris made a remark about the crystals – he had seen a dozen crystals in a shop at the Volnar colony for only one Cardassian lek. With this remark, he sunk the deal the Ferengi wanted to make and prevented Kim from paying too much for the crystals. Paris took Kim with him after he told him "Didn't they warn you about the Ferengi at the Academy?" When Paris reported on board Voyager, Kim noticed the strange behavior between Paris and the Chief Medical Officer. When he asked about this, Paris told him it was too long of a story and he was tired of telling it. Someone would tell Kim sooner or later. Kim later found out what it was: an accident as a result of a pilot error which Paris tried to hide by falsifying reports, which Paris eventually admitted was his fault. Kim told Paris he could choose his own friends. Over time, their friendship grew. Among other things, they had double dates with the Delaney sisters and spent leisure time with Paris' holoprogram, The Adventures of Captain Proton. Paris also gave Kim relationship advice when his friend needed it, although he never tired of reminding Kim about his bad track record; a hologram, an ex-Borg, an alien (breaking laws of protocol, especially since it was secret), and a resurrected member of the crew (the 'Dearly Departed', as Paris described it). The Doctor Although their relationship was often a difficult one, Paris also managed to become close friends with The Doctor, helping him explore one of the most difficult aspects of being a member of the crew: relationships. When The Doctor was initially rejected by Denara Pel, a Vidiian who The Doctor had developed feelings for, he went to Paris for relationship advice, and Paris helped set The Doctor and Pel up on a date in a holoprogram. ( ) When The Doctor created a holographic family and one of his 'children' faced death, it was Paris who convinced The Doctor to keep running the program, realizing that The Doctor needed to experience the negative aspects of family life if he wanted to develop as a person. ( ) Paris was chosen as The Doctor's medical assistant soon after the Voyager was thrown into the Delta Quadrant. Citing his limited academic backgound in biochemistry, Janeway ordered him to begin training as a field medic. ( ). He remained the sole known flesh-and-blood medical assistant until The Doctor recruited Kes. ( ). While he presumably continued some level of medical training with the Doctor, Kes thereafter became the Doctor's primary assistant. Upon her departure, Paris increased his duty shifts in sickbay once again. Although he was initially reluctant, he proved to be highly capable at the job. Over time, it became clear that, although he complained about the role, preferring to pilot the ship, he still wanted The Doctor's respect. This was the main reason Paris resented the Doctor's holonovel about abused holograms, Photons Be Free; he worried that 'his' character, a womanizer called Lieutenant Marseilles, reflected how The Doctor saw him. Despite this, when the crew arranged a trial to determine The Doctor's legal rights, it was Paris who objected to them taking the easy way out by claiming that The Doctor had no right to sell the holonovel in the first place, as they would basically have been admitting that The Doctor was not a real person. ( ) ::Paris' prominence in the role of medic implies, perhaps illogically, that no one in the sciences division who survived the trip to the Delta Quadrant had a background in biology. It's equally possible that the ship didn't launch with a fully-crewed sciences division, since their initial mission was not exploratory in nature. This speculation is possibly validated by the relative lack of blue-uniformed officers seen roaming around the ship, and the complete absence of science officers amongst the senior staff and most away teams. Kes As Kes' role on the crew developed, Paris began to develop feelings for her; in an alternate future, he admitted that he'd had a crush on her from the moment she joined the crew. At her second birthday party, he sacrificed two weeks' worth of replicator rations to give her a beautiful locket as a present ( ). His feelings for her grew when he became her flight instructor, prompting a brief conflict between him and Neelix, but the two of them resolved their differences after saving an alien infant together. ( ) The two were also closely involved in helping The Doctor cope with relationships; Paris and Kes helped The Doctor arrange a date with Denara Pel, a Vidiian The Doctor had developed feelings for. When Paris left the ship as part of a ploy to expose a Kazon spy, Kes was one of the three people who came to say goodbye to him directly, the other two being Neelix and Harry Kim. ( ) In an alternate future, Kes and Paris married during The Year of Hell conflict, following the death of B'Elanna Torres; the two went on to have a daughter, Linnis Paris, who married Harry Kim and had a son called Andrew Kim. This timeline was erased when exposure to temporal radiation sent Kes traveling back in time from the moment of her death, and any feelings she may have developed for Paris in the course of her jumps were never fully explored before she finally departed the ship. ( ) :Interestingly enough, Paris had flirtations with every female regular on ''Star Trek: Voyager, including the aforementioned B'Elanna Torres and Kes, but also including Seven of Nine in and even Captain Janeway in .'' Background Tom Paris was played by Robert Duncan McNeill throughout the entire run of Star Trek: Voyager. From the Voyager pilot on, Paris and Harry Kim were the best of friends. This was somewhat similar to the chemistry that existed between best friends Julian Bashir and Miles O'Brien on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The relationship between Tom Paris and Harry Kim probably was also partly inspired the relationship between Nicholas Locarno and Wesley Crusher, with Tom standing in for Nicholas (wisecracking pilot) while Harry standing in for Wesley (skilled engineer). This type of relationship can also be seen with Leonard McCoy and Spock in The Original Series, Geordi La Forge and Data in The Next Generation and Charles "Trip" Tucker III and Malcolm Reed in Enterprise. Paris was largely based on the character of Nicholas Locarno from The Next Generation episode , who was also played by Robert Duncan McNeill. When the writers were trying to cast for the part, they couldn't find anyone that seemed to match McNeill's persona, so they eventually just asked him to read for the role, and he got the part. Reasons for not simply bringing back the Locarno character have varied. It may have been because they would have had to pay royalties to the writers of "The First Duty" every episode, though in interviews, the producers of Voyager have said they felt Locarno's actions in that episode made him irredeemable. Later, a photo of McNeill as Locarno was used as a photo of young Tom Paris on Admiral Owen Paris's desk in the episode . Paris's middle name "Eugene" perhaps is a tribute to Eugene Wesley Roddenberry, much like the name of "Wesley" in Wesley Crusher's name, making Paris as one more Star Trek TV series main character that shared similar names with Gene Roddenberry. An unproduced Voyager script was to have included a flashback to his time at Starfleet Academy, which would have revealed that one of his classmates was Ro Laren. When Paris was promoted to lieutenant at the end of , he was given the rank pips of a full lieutenant and wore them for several episodes. However, as of , this costume gaffe was corrected to reflect Paris' actual rank of lieutenant junior grade. In the It's A Wrap! sale and auction, two uniforms used by Robert McNeill in his portrayal of Tom Paris that were up for auction contained pectorals to show increased musculature. The usage of this is unknown, although a racquetball uniform used by Alexander Siddig as Julian Bashir had muscle padding as well. Apocrypha In the Voyager relaunch book series, Paris moved to Boreth with his wife and daughter. He later re-joined the crew of the USS Voyager and was promoted to Lieutenant Commander (Paris, like many on Voyager, was promoted two steps in rank, to make up for the time he spent in the Delta Quadrant when he could not normally receive promotions). He served as Voyager's first officer, under the command of Captain Chakotay, after the original first officer was revealed to be a renegade Changeling.'' In the alternate future of the Deep Space Nine Millennium book trilogy, Paris and the rest of the Voyager crew returned to the Alpha Quadrant at an unspecified time. He also was married to B'Elanna Torres. He and his wife were later assigned to the USS Enterprise-F under Captain William T. Riker. Paris, along with the Enterprise and her crew (Including Deanna Troi and Geordi La Forge), were killed during the destruction of Earth. In the Star Trek: Stargazer series of novels written by Michael Jan Friedman, there is an officer on the under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard named Cole Paris. He eventually began a 'relationship' with a fellow crewmember, a non-corporeal entity, after an encounter in her quarters in her gaseous state left him with an incredible feeling; he acknowledged from the beginning that it wouldn't be easy, but he wanted to try and make it work. Cole was Owen's brother, and, hence, Tom's uncle. An earlier Paris ancestor, Iron Mike Paris, appeared in the Star Trek: The Lost Era novel Serpents Among the Ruins by David R. George III. According to this book, Mike was the father of Owen and Cole. Paris, Tom Paris, Tom Paris, Tom Paris, Tom Paris, Tom de:Thomas Eugene Paris es:Tom Paris fr:Tom Paris nl:Tom Paris pl:Tom Paris